Anambra State residents observed the sit-at-home directive issued on Monday and Tuesday by a segment within the community.

This is in spite of the Indigenous People of Biafra’s demand that people in the Southeast disregard the directive.

Major marketplaces, highways, courts, schools, banks, gas stations and other public spaces in the major cities of Onitsha, Nnewi, Ekwulobia and certain areas of Awka were desolate on Monday, our reporter reported, paralysing economic and commercial activity.

At sites like the Nkpor and Ochanja markets in Onitsha and the Eke-Awka market in Awka, just a handful of roadside vendors were seen selling their goods; the stores in the main marketplaces, however, were still locked.

Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the state governor, expressed his happiness that the street vendors turned out for events during his usual observation of market activity on Monday when he visited the Nkpor market.

Soludo assured the people of their safety and well-being and instructed them to go about their legal business while conversing briefly with the traders.

Last week, a video and voice notes—possibly from a split faction of IPOB—went viral on social media, alerting South East residents to stay inside on October 21 and 22. The message stated that those days have been designated as “sit-at-home” days, and it threatened to take legal action against anyone who disobeyed the order.

However, despite the IPOB, led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, pleading with people to disregard the sit-at-home call and carry on with their daily lives through their spokesperson Emma Powerful, few things changed. Most people stayed inside, while others congregated in the streets to discuss a variety of topics.

“You know the governor has given us a directive to be opening the markets on Monday,” stated a market leader in one of the major Onitsha marketplaces who was observed near the markets but asked to remain anonymous. Our job is to follow the instructions and let the traders in.

But as you can see, because of the sit-at-home that started today, everything is empty. Everyone has chosen to remain inside and wait for events to develop out of fear of being attacked by thugs. The few traders who did arrive simply waited about and observed things; even the traders did not show up.

John Okonkwo, another pedestrian, stated, “Nobody can halt Monday’s sit-at-home; only Nnamdi Kanu’s release would do so. The governors of the area ought to limit their efforts to lobbying for Kanu’s release through their good offices.

However, Ebuka Ikem, the director of Civil Liberty Group and a human rights activist in the state, responded to the development by saying, “It is a shame to the authorities that a voice note has been circulating the warning and threatening people to stay at home and no one can trace the origin and source of the voice note.”

What became to the NIN that we had to complete? Can’t we ask the network providers to find out who is consistently spreading these voice notes?

They would order us to stay indoors for a month one day, and we would all comply like zombies. It’s unfortunate.